Notebook: Spurs 109, Warriors 91

Posted May 17, 2013&nbsp2:07 AM

Tim Price, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Tony Parker had 25 points and 10 assists while the Spurs limited Golden State's backcourt of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson to a combined 13 points in a 109-91 victory that has put San Antonio on the threshold of advancing past the Western Conference semifinals, now up 3-2 over the Warriors after Tuesday's Game 5 at AT&T Center.

With Curry and Thompson struggling -- they combined to shoot 6-for-22 -- it was left to another young player to try to dig the Warriors out of this one. Harrison Barnes, named to the all-rookie team earlier in the day, scored 25 after a 26-point game in Game 4 on Sunday.

QUOTABLE: "No one talks about getting this thing (series) over with, like you've got a rash or that type of thing and you take a pill or some cream and it's going to be gone. It's about going and playing, and that's about it."

-- Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

THE STAT: Both Curry (26.0 points per game) and Thompson (20.0 ppg) were averaging in the 20s per game in this series. Their combined 13 points Tuesday is 28 percent of their usual points total in this series. Not only did the Spurs' defense shut down the "Splash Brothers," they finally outrebounded Golden State (38-36). The Warriors had been outrebounding San Antonio by a margin of 8.25 boards per game through four games, and that's almost twice as much as the Warriors outrebounded Denver (plus 4.5 boards per game) in the first round.

TURNING POINT: The Spurs got off to a good start and had a 12-point first-quarter lead. But that was cut to a basket when Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Parker shot 1-for-11 in the second quarter. San Antonio re-started and opened the second half by going 6-for-7 in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the third quarter. The lead was back up to double digits, and the closest the Warriors got after that was eight points with six minutes to go.

QUOTABLE II: "They just came out and outworked us the entire game. They jumped out early, and if you do not meet the force that they play with in this building the game can get away from you."

-- Warriors guard Jarrett Jack

HOT: Kawhi Leonard (17 points) went 7-for-8 and is shooting 58 percent during this series. He shot 49 percent from the floor during the regular season.

NOT: When Thompson drilled the Spurs for 34 points in Game 2, Popovich openly expressed his hopes that Curry and Thompson might go cold. He finally got his wish. Thompson went 11-for-14 from the 3-point line in Games 2 and 3, but he's only taken two 3-pointers since. None of those came Tuesday. Warriors coach Mark Jackson finally saw enough and took both of them out with four minutes to go and the Spurs leading 102-84: "It just got to a point that I had to look toward Game 6," Jackson said.

FANTASY SPOTLIGHT: Duncan's 14 points/11 rebounds double-double is the 143rd in his playoff career and ties Wilt Chamberlain for second all-time behind Magic Johnson (157).

GOOD MOVE: Rather than have Leonard guard Curry, which would switch Parker over to the taller Thompson or Barnes, the Spurs mostly have run Leonard at Thompson and tried to keep Danny Green on the floor with Parker. While sometimes Barnes has been able to take advantage of Parker, San Antonio was able to switch enough so that Green went over to Barnes and Parker took Curry. "We've got a lot of mismatches, and (Golden State) goes to those mismatches," Popovich said. "We've got to play intelligently in those situations, and I thought we did that tonight."

BAD MOVE: Who's to blame? It's very hard to pin fault on the Warriors when Andrew Bogut (two points and six rebounds in less than 20 minutes) is limping off the court and Curry has defenders like Leonard, Parker, Green and Cory Joseph running at him when he's certainly not 100 percent.

ROOKIE WATCH: Barnes followed a playoff-best 26 points from Game 4 with 25 Tuesday. He shot even better (10-for-18) than he did in Game 4 (9-for-26) and he turned the ball over once (four mistakes in Game 4) on a night when San Antonio outscored Golden State 23-12 off turnovers in Game 5. Barnes, the seventh pick in this season's draft, won't turn 21 years old until the end of this month. He has four 20-point games in the postseason after only three in the regular season. Kobe Bryant (1999) and Magic Johnson (1979) are the last players younger than 21 to have four 20-point games in a single postseason. Barnes is the NBA's first player younger than 21 to score at least 25 points in consecutive games.

NOTABLE: The 37-point first quarter was a 2013 playoff high for San Antonio, topping a 35-pointer in Game 3 of the first-round sweep over the Lakers. ... David Lee exceeded his series-high of seven minutes from Game 4 and saw 12 minutes of action Tuesday, scoring six points after hitting all three shots from the floor.